“Grow up!” This phrase has been uttered by parents and teachers alike over the decades. There is constant pressure for young adults to be more independent, especially from adults who always tell teens how they need to be more mature. As high school students, there are numerous ways to show maturity and independence, such as achieving in difficult classes or maintaining a job. An opportunity to allow sophomores to demonstrate their maturity is to allow them to go off campus for lunch. Only juniors and seniors can go off campus. The main reason upperclassmen are allowed to go out for lunch is because most of them have a driver’s license, or know someone who does. However, throughout the school year, most sophomores are turning 16. For many students, that means getting a driver’s license. Sophomores should be extended the privilege of off-campus lunch, at the very least during the second semester.Some adults may argue that their inexperience with driving would make going off campus dangerous for sophomores, yet in order to receive a license a person must pass a formal driving exam. After passing this exam, 16-year-old drivers are given their Level Two license, which allows them to drive without an adult in the vehicle. By having 16-year-old drivers on probation, students are likely to be more careful while driving, resulting in a less dangerous driving environment. Sophomores are eager to drive and show their maturity in other ways; they should be allowed to use their new responsibility and go off campus. Although 9th and 10th grade are only one year apart, the maturity difference between freshmen and sophomores is enormous. Freshmen are still settling into high school, where the environment is very different than middle school. Going to the lunchroom with other students allows freshmen to meet new people and make new friends. And let us not forget that seating in the cafeteria is very limited, so having a few sophomores gone on off-campus days will make things less crowded. Freshmen also can use lunch to catch up on homework or study for tests and quizzes, since most freshmen are still learning to navigate the rigors of high school academics. The adjustment of going to a big school is enough for a freshman to worry about without the added distraction of going off campus.But sophomores know their way around high school, many have gone to a formal dance, most have gone to football games, and many have had their first serious romantic relationship. Simply put, sophomores are not kids anymore. Although some sophomores drive cars to school, they still cannot use them to go off campus. Freshmen have Wagongate and experience formal dances for the first time, juniors are preparing for the SATs and taking the hardest classes of their high school career, and seniors are applying to colleges and planning for Prom. Coming back to school in the fall is not as appealing for sophomores because there are no new privileges, no milestones to celebrate.At the very least, sophomore students should be allowed to go off campus for lunch by the second semester, when more of them have cars and licenses. By second semester, the students will be more mature and will be able to handle the privilege better. By allowing sophomore students to go off campus, they get a new responsibility and added excitement to their second year at Pioneer.

The Pioneer Optimist is written, edited and published in print 5 times a year and online weekly by the students of Pioneer High School. The Optimist office is located in room C-212, Ann Arbor Pioneer High School, 601 West Stadium Boulevard, Ann Arbor MI, 48103. The Optimist is an open forum and welcomes opinions and letters to the editor. Submissions may be emailed to phsoptimist@aaps.k12.mi.us, dropped off in room C-210, or given to Mrs. Fitzgerald. All opinions and letters must include the author’s name and phone number for verification purposes. Names will be printed unless extenuating circumstances prevail. All submissions become property of The Optimist and will not be returned. Editors reserve the right to revise submissions for spelling, grammar, content, relevance, good taste, and community standards. Though dialogue with readers is of utmost importance to The Optimist, articles and letters carry no guarantee of publication. The Optimist sells advertising. Please email phsoptimist@aaps.k12.mi.us for rates and more information. The Pioneer Optimist, All Rights Reserved, 2016-17.